Category: Double Duty

I absolutely LOVE chicken from the crock pot! I feel like you just about can’t mess it up. It always comes out tender and full of flavor. Let’s also not forget the easy clean up, and dinner is practically done when you get home! This week I tried out a whole chicken in the crock pot and used the meat for a couple of dinners!

Doesn’t it look so yummy!!! I started by placing 4 foil balls in the bottom of the crock pot to keep the chicken out of the juices while it cooked. Then I packed the inside of that 5.4 lb bird with 1/2 cup onions, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 cup celery, and 2 lemons. I finished with a covering of Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper Seasoning over the outside of the bird.

I turned the crockpot on high for 4 hours and left for work. I shortened the suggested cook time because I knew I would be gone 8+ hours for the work day. Once my crockpot is done with cooking time, it will stay on the “warm” setting (which is still pretty hot for my crockpot) until I turn it off…so I knew the bird would keep cooking the remaining 4 hours. If you are home to watch it, cook for 4 1/2 – 5 hours (or until internal temp reaches 165 degrees).

I ALWAYS use a crock pot bag, so when I got home I just lifted the bag out of the crock pot and placed it in a roasting pan so I could easily slice the chicken. Well, honestly I attempted to slice it, but it was so tender it just fell apart. It was AMAZING!!! SO much flavor and melt-in-your-mouth tender.

I pulled off enough meat for that night’s dinner, and then pulled off the rest of the white meat and put it in the fridge to make chicken and cheese quesadillas the next night! I also pull off all the dark meat and save it for the dogs. 🙂

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Do you remember the awesome Southwest Chicken we shared with you yesterday? Remember how we cooked all the chicken in the crock pot and saved some for “another meal”? Well….drum roll please….

Simple Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

Left over chicken from previous meal (already cooked)

2 cups of water

1 32 ounce carton of chicken broth (low sodium – low fat)

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 cloves of minced garlic

2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning

1/2 cup of frozen chopped onion

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

1 medium sliced carrot

6 ounces of ditalini pasta (or any small pasta of your choice)

2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped

Combine water and chicken broth in a microwave safe dish, and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Shred the chicken from the previous meal and set aside.

While the broth heats up, heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to a pan and add sliced carrots, salt and pepper, then cook for 2 minutes. Next, add onion and celery and cook for 3 – 4 minutes or until tender. Make sure you stir frequently. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and stir for one more minute, or until the garlic smells fragrant. Add the broth mixture and the pasta, then bring to a boil. Cook for 7 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Stir in the shredded chicken and cook for 2 more minutes or until the chicken is heated through. Add the parsley and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Calories: 237; Fat: 5; Carbs: 24; Fiber: 2; Protein: 23

6 Weight Watchers Points+ Value per serving.

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Yeah, so we are in a chicken-from-the-crockpot kind of mood…so what?! If everything I made was this easy, and this delicious, I would be one happy wife and I am sure I would have one happy hubby. Unfortunately, it isn’t always that way {I just choose to only share the good stuff with all of you}.

This crock pot meal was super awesome because I cooked the chicken all at one time in the crock pot and used half of it for another meal later in the week (which I will share with you tomorrow).

Southwest Chicken

Ingredients

1.5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast (plus another 3/4 pound of chicken for another meal)

14.5 ounce can of dice tomatoes with mild green chilies

15 ounce can of black beans (rinsed and drained)

8 ounces of frozen corn

1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro

14.5 ounce can fat free chicken broth

3 green onions, chopped

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In the crockpot, combine the chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, and seasonings. Season the chicken breasts with salt (to taste) and lay them on top of the mixture in the crockpot. Lay the extra chicken breast on top of that (so it doesn’t touch the mixture on the bottom), then season with salt and pepper. Cook on low for 8 hours.

30 minutes before you serve the meal, remove the extra chicken breasts from the top and put them in a sealed container to save for another meal. Use a fork to shred the remaining chicken in the crockpot, mix with other seasonings, and cook for 30 more minutes. Serve mixture over rice.

Makes 8 servings

Calories: 210; Fat: 3; Carbs: 24; Fiber: 5.6; Protein: 21

5 Weight Watchers Points+ per Serving.

Come back tomorrow to see how we used the extra chicken!

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Anytime we can re-purpose our leftovers into a completely different meal I am a happy lady. I am not a fan of left-overs, but I really hate wasting food so we are always on the lookout for ways to make last night’s dinner into today’s lunch (with a twist). :0)Yesterday I shared our Sweet Crock Pot Jalapeno Ribs with you. We had some leftover, so we re-heated it and added it to some baked potatoes for a yummy lunch today!

Rib meat left over from the crock pot jalapeno ribs

2 baking potatoes

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

sour cream

Wash and dry potatoes. Wrap in foil. Bake in 400 degree oven for 1 – 1 1/2 hours, or until knife tender. Split potato in half and top with rib meat, cheese, sour cream, and any other toppings.

I was also super duper excited to get to add some yummy home-grown tomato to our lunch today! Yep, this was our first tomato from our little garden and it was so delicious! There is nothing like a fresh garden-grown tomato, especially when you grew it yourself!

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Crock Pot recipes are the best during the 100+ degree days of summer. There is no heating up the oven and heating up the house. We tried these sweet and spicy pork ribs with mixed reviews. Joe loved them, and was not a fan. I am not sure exactly why I wasn’t a fan, the flavor was good, so maybe it was the texture. Anyways, the hubs loved them and that makes me a happy wifey.

15.5 oz can of pinto beans, drained

2 lbs pork spare ribs, trimmed and cut apart

1/4 t garlic powder

1/4 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup red jalapeno jelly

1/2 cup steak sauce

Add beans to the crock pot.

Season your ribs with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place ribs on a broiler pan 5 1/2 inches from the element and broil 18 – 20 minutes until brown (turn once).

Add ribs to the crock pot and add the onion.

Combine jelly and steak sauce in a pan and heat until the jelly melts. Pour the jelly mixture over the ribs and stir gently. Cook on high 5 – 6 hours or low 9 – 10 hours.

Remove the ribs and shred the meat (I saved about a cup of meat for our rib stuffed potatoes – I will share that with you tomorrow). Skim the fat from the sauce and then continue cooking the beans and sauce un-covered on high for about 30 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Add meat back to the crock-pot to reheat it and then serve the mixture over rice.

For this meal I served corn on the cob for a side dish and I tried a new way of preparing it. OMG – I will never ever ever eat frozen corn on the cob again! Please don’t laugh….yes, I am 30 years old and have never cooked a fresh (in the husk) ear of corn…and I was nervous! Plus usually anything cooked in the microwave is never as good as any other way you could have cooked it, so I was skeptical…

Yes people, I cooked corn on the cob in the microwave and it was to die for! Basically you just wet a paper towel and put it in the bottom of your microwave. You put two ears at a time on the paper towel…leave them in the husk!! Cook the corn for 2 1/2 minutes, flip, then cook 2 1/2 minutes longer. Take the corn out and wrap it in a dish towel for five minutes. Then remove the husk and strings (which was so easy after it was cooked) and butter it up and dig in. YUM!

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Remember the Roast Beef and Creamy Potatoes that I shared yesterday? Well, I used some of the leftover meat to make our Carver Cheesesteak Sandwiches…yum! I usually hate leftovers but when I can completely repurpose them, like I do in this recipe, I am willing to try it. Let me tell ya….it was worth it!!

Ever since we came home from Philadelphia last summer, Joe has been on a fix of asking for cheesesteaks. What better way to meet his request than with leftovers?

leftover roast beef from Roast Beef and Creamy Potatoes

1 cup of sweet onions

1 bell pepper

1/2 a container of sliced mushrooms

8 oz package of shredded mozzarella cheese

4 hoagie rolls

Slice the onion and bell pepper. Coat a skillet with cooking spray and over medium heat, cook the onion, pepper, and mushrooms.

Add the meat, re-heat and set aside.

Turn your oven on to broil, then cut the hoagie rolls in half and place cut side up on an ungreased cookie sheet. Add vegetable mixture, beef and cheese to rolls.

Broil 4 – 6 inches from the heat until the cheese melts. Watch to make sure it doesn’t burn, it only takes a minute or two.

Make sure you eat these while they are still hot. They are so filling and so full of flavor. Enjoy!

Oh – and they make a really great lunch to take the next day too!!

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I love anything that you can put in the crock pot for two reasons 1) it is easy and 2) it makes meat so tender when you cook it low and slow all day. This recipe for roast beef was so delicious and I actually used some of the beef for a leftover recipe (stay tuned ;0) and it was still so yummy! I give this two thumbs up!

1 pounds sirloin tip roast

3 large potatoes, cut in large chunks

10 ounce can of beef broth

10 ounce can cream of mushroom soup

1 packet of dry onion soup mix

1/2 a container of sliced mushrooms

Place roast and potatoes in a crock-pot.

Mix together the broth, soup, soup mix, and mushrooms. Pour the soup mix over the meat and potatoes.

Cover and cook on low for 6 – 8 hours. Yep – it was really that easy :0)